Whether you’re renovating your home and updating your flooring or taking on the excitement of a new build, flooring plays a huge role. It can be one of the most daunting selections to make as it affects your home as a whole. The aesthetic choices matter to homeowners because it can change the entire way your home looks, but there are other factors as well: durability, where the flooring is being laid, and cost also play heavily into the decision. The four main factors that go into selecting flooring are:

Budget: If you cannot spend more than $1,000 on a large room, then granite and marble are not viable options.
Location: Where is the floor being installed? Will the flooring be in a wet location, or one that is semi-wet, dry, or high-traffic? How will the selected flooring hold up in these areas?
Maintenance: What about maintenance needs? Any type of flooring—even the least durable—can be used for decades if properly maintained.
Look and feel: Most homeowners place this question at the top of their list, but many experts place it at the bottom, below the more pragmatic issues listed above.

Tile

When you look at the big picture, tile is one of the best flooring choices you can make: It is readily available, cost-effective, and offers versatile options. Tile flooring comes in different materials, from ceramic to stone varieties. The awesome thing about tile floors is the versatility of the options. There are many different colors and kinds, and the tile sizes range vastly. They can vary from the tiny mosaic types—some of which are less than an inch square—to large (12") and even oversized tile squares.

As for ease of maintenance, tile can hardly be beaten and is the easiest floor to repair. Cracks, chips, etc. can easily be fixed by simply removing the affected tiles and replacing them with new tiles. In fact, when you have tile flooring installed, extra tile squares are left behind just for this purpose.

Vinyl

Vinyl floors are a popular option among homeowners, particularly in kitchen and bathroom applications. It’s water-and stain-resistant, versatile, and provides good durability for the cost. Thanks to a number of advances over the years, today’s vinyl floors are also attractive and economical. It’s also durable and stands up well to heavy foot traffic, as well as being comfortable under foot and reducing noise. It’s also less expensive than many other flooring options and is easy to install and maintain. Vinyl flooring comes in a broad range of colors and patterns to match every decor, including a variety of lifelike wood grains.

On the other hand, vinyl floors do not stand up well to heavy loads and can be damaged by sharp objects. Also, colors can fade with exposure to too much direct sunlight and floors can be damaged by extreme temperatures.

Linoleum

Linoleum, which is different than vinyl flooring (though often confused), is composed of linseed oil and is therefore waterproof, as well as being environmentally friendly. Sheet linoleum is ideal for use in the bathroom and kitchen, though you will need to seal around the wet areas where water from tubs and sinks may spill with a silicone caulking.

Maintenance is very simple. If there are any dents or dings in it, they can self-heal (if small enough). For resilience alone, linoleum remains one of the best flooring materials.

Hardwood

Hardwood flooring is a great example of style done right. With its warmth, character, and ease of maintenance—especially when you consider that sanding and refinishing costs are minimal compared to installing new floors—hardwood flooring remains one of the best flooring options of all time. With the right species of wood, scratches from pet claws and high heels aren't an issue. Scratches can be sanded out and refinished, as can most any dent or ding. And there’s no end to patterns expert craftsmen can etch into hardwood flooring.

Concrete

Concrete flooring is slowly establishing itself as one of the best flooring options for mid-budget homeowners. Today's concrete staining and stamping methods have created endless ways to embellish a concrete floor, and it’s making a comeback in high-end remodels for its ease of use and lasting beauty. Concrete maintenance is also by far one of the easiest in the flooring industry. With a properly sealed concrete floor, stains are not an issue and it’s obviously impact-resistant.

These are just a few of the many great flooring options out there. Taking into account the four points we made at the beginning of this blog on what goes into choosing a flooring for your house or for particular rooms in your house, and then reading about five of our favorite options, did you find one that stands out to you? As always, if you have any questions or want more info on pricing or what it would take to put these floorings into your existing home or your upcoming build, don’t hesitate to contact us and we would love to help walk you through it!